Closed Subliminal Slugs Open to Durmstrang Only

Russian‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Swedish‏ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ Norwegian‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ English

Greta barely registered the exploding sound of a impressively powered spell impacting the ground nearby. She didn't really notice the continued struggle as Romeo overpowered the much smaller Astrid. The Norwegian didn't even notice much as the slug around her neck shifted position to take an opportunistic strike at Johannes, his hands subsequently retreating from her shoulders as he abandoned his attempt to pull her back in favour of putting as much distance as he could between himself and the slug—who could blame him. For that period of time, Greta's narrowed attention became singularly focused on trying to free herself from the prehensile mass around her neck, nails digging into its slimy and slithering flesh in desperate attempts to gain purchase to wrench if off of her. As much as she struggled, though, gouges forming in the ground to dirty the surrounding snow with kicked up dirt, it seemed hopeless. It was too slippery, and herself, too weak.

Then, for some reason that she wasn't about to question, she was suddenly freed. Still collared and coated with the inky slime though she may have been, the creature retreated back into the Captain's mouth, leaving Greta to fall back with the sudden release. Her mind was still trying to catch up and process this fortuitous change of events as someone rushed in, arms scooping her up as though she were little more than a child to pull her back to a safer distance.

"I've got you, I've got you..."

The reassuring voice pried her gaze away from the remnants of the horror scene she had just been starring in. Tears well in her eyes as she looked up to see the comforting sight of one who had become something of a constant for her. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder, sobbing in relief and release of the acute swell of panic and emotion. Fingers clutched at his clothing, taking what she could into her fists, giving the impression that she would never be letting go. His warmth melted the icy fear that had taken her heart in its vice grip. The beat of his own served as a metronome to help her soothe her racing pulse. By the time he had created distance and eased her down to her feet, her tears had reduced to sniffles, breathing had regulated, and she was sound enough of mind to be able to look around.

"Stay next to me, Pärla Pearl."

Felix didn't have to tell her twice. He'd pulled her to safety and away from that... that thing. She wasn't about to go waltzing anywhere back near to it or out of reach of his intervention. Subconscious survival drive pushing her to become as small a target as possible, she leaned into him. Her arms may not have been around his neck any longer, but she still clutched with one hand at whatever part of his jack that she could, anchoring herself to him. The other, seeing Valentin stirring and coming round as though nothing had happened and having sense enough to understand this meant he would soon be mobile, reached for her own wand. She glanced sidelong up at Felix as he voiced his plan, then nodded, wiping her face on a sleeve and resolving—despite a continued quiver of her lips—to do what she could to help them out of this mess, and save both Niffy and Roo from these monsters that had somehow taken residence inside of them.

And there was one easy thing she could do to try to give them all a moment to breathe and figure out their next steps without having to contend with the ridiculous strength of their quidditch co-captain. "Petrificus totalus!"

Roleplaying as Hans Jenssen

In hindsight, yelling at his upperclassmen to get salt in an attempt to fight off magical slugs was probably not the most logical decision, but still, if the two older students put some thought and empathy into a boy not yet turned thirteen thrusted into a situation of life and death, it could be assumed that thinking straight was not a choice on the table. Of course, empathy was not a trait on the job description for emo and goth Durmstrang young men - a pity, in all honesty. First was Felix’s scream, which, to be fair, could be compared to Hans’ who he was so actively attacking, and next came Johannes’ spray of slightly more composed sarcastic acid. How fantastic that they were actually taking time off their dying team mates to gang up on a child. Despite the burning desire for retaliation, Hans swallowed back certain colourful phrases in his throat and straightened himself and hopefully his mind.

It seemed as if Hans’ attempts to attack the slugs trying to grapple onto Astrid’s neck had failed. As the German’s hand touched the viscous surface of the slug, tar-like oil oozing onto his hands, making him want to instinctively flinch away, he cursed in his native tongue, followed by a revolted, ‘What is this stuff?’ Refocusing as his eyes returned from their glance to Astrid, he tried once more to grasp onto it, yet as it retreated back into Romeo’s mouth who inconveniently decided to turn his head away, Hans’ hands slipped off the slick surface entirely. ‘Come on!’ He cried at the stubborn little thing, still not in their common language, out of utter frustration. Taking a few reluctant steps back due to momentum, he steadied himself with a few deep breaths, such a common action he used to do before races, which, after a year since his last competition, now seemed so unbelievably foreign. ‘Okay,’ he murmured to himself before the adrenaline raced back into his veins all too quickly.

Now, with his rational mind operating much better, Hans did his best to ignore the shrill wails of Greta in the background. It was a relief that Felix now had her in his arms and was carrying her to safety, despite her sobs, which the young student hoped to be at least primarily out of relief rather than terror. Yet, just as he presumed her to be safe, Valentin proved to him that his mind had not been as recovered as Felix hoped. Valentin, this glorious figure, the champion of Durmstrang the captain that the whole team must have looked up to, was no longer himself. Yet before he could fully register what the seeker had said, a voice pulled his attention away.

'All of you, listen.' It was indeed a day of the impossible, for in the first time in the duration of his studies at Durmstrang, Hans was grateful to hear the voice of Felix Kolbeck, and to be completely honest, he agreed that it was time to listen, however reluctantly such listening would play out. It had never been in him to pause and strategise before charging into a battlefield, but if nothing else, strategy was exactly he needed in today's situation, without the blessings of advanced spellsmanship or tremendous physical strength in comparison to his elder schoolmates. 'I'm getting this thing out of his throat and as soon as I do I need you all to start blasting it and grab Astrid. Got it? Good.' With reinforcement from Johannes' disoriented remark of, 'Shit, grab Astrid before releasing the hell beast!?', Hans turned his full attention back to the girl in question. Astrid, still frozen with shock and unspeaking, should be the first priority. Unlike Greta, who (bless her) had now recovered enough to spell cast in self defence, the fifth year seemed helpless.

Lunging at her once more, yet this time with his full attention set on Astrid herself instead of the slugs, now fully retreated into Romeo's mouth, Hans caught Astrid by her side, attempting to stay mild with the force he exerted to not hurt her further. Lifting her so her feet slightly hovered above the ground, cautious not to rise her too high lest they both lost balance, he took a few tentative steps backwards and away from the Quidditch co-captain. Bending down to rest her on the ground, he asked in their shared language, 'You okay?' It was a ridiculous question, considering the circumstances. With two hag slug hosts, two victims, and three students attempting to save all four of them, no one was "okay". But exactly, the bars were low today. Hans followed it with perhaps a more beneficial remark, words not quite coming through as his Russian failed him in his time of desperation, 'Are... do... do you need anything?' Even then it sounded futile. What could he get her? Turning to face Felix and Johannes he called, 'Should I just get her as far away as possible from here? Back to the tents?' It would mean he would be away from the action, but now that his subconscious hero complex had been fully washed out, he wouldn’t mind if it meant seeing Astrid safe.

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood as Valentin Schnell, @Piérre Marchonné as Romeo Marchonné, @Evelynn Decipio as Greta Fransson, @Anastasia Varney as Astrid Olsen, @Astrea Soleil Neptune as Johannes Sauer, @Winnie Harper as Felix Kolbeck

Banner by the absolutely fantastic Winnie Harper/Felix Kolbeck

Action: none (permission to say that Hans dragged Astrid out of range was approved by her author)

Stats: Sta: 8 | Eva: 10 | Str: 5 | Wis: 5 | ArcP: 2 | Acc: 10
Abilities: Fearless + Charmer (opponents defined as Romeo’s slug(s)) | Hp: 800/800
Inventory: wand

⋅ Inspiration ⋅ Outfit ⋅

Mikael felt aimless, like the spider web that clung uselessly to a wooden beam. Holding on despite being broken, drifting through the air. No one wanted a spider web there, and yet there it was. The boy licked his chapped lips, his sweater clung to his skin with sweat. When had he felt this warm before? Something that felt foreign to him. His house was cold, the snow tracked in never melted. It seemed crazy to dress any differently. So there he stood his sleeves slightly pushed up. Bringing much-needed relief to his very being.

As the boy walked through the tents, he could not help but glance over his shoulder. A target had been painted in red across his back, marking him. A martyr. He knew a martyr once, but it is difficult to be a martyr when you are not dead. His eyes widened and his breath quickened, had he seen someone moving through the tents? Moving swiftly. Shrouded. The incident at the station had not left him. Disrupting his ever-elusive sleep.
He felt hunted. A feeling that did nothing but stab him straight through his heart. The boy swallowed thickly, had it all been a lie for he was the true martyr? He could still feel the boy pulling him up out of the water. Breathing life into him as the crowd of on-lookers cried and fell upon their faces. Weeping that echoed through his very soul. Oh he hoped the being would not lead him astray. However, the being only wanted him to fulfill his part. To understand. What if this was all it was all this time?

Above him a crow cawed, his gaze quickly whipping upwards. Mikael sped up his pace his hand falling into his pocket to grip onto his wand. He was not too sure where Valentin was, his light, the one thing that shone brightly enough to keep away the ever-decreasing expanses of his mind. Not...that the other had been like that recently. The white-haired boy had changed beyond his true comprehension. Something that brought him pause, a hidden anxiety that tugged at the back of his head. It was a similar feeling to when Yefim had changed...right before he had left.

Mikael swallowed as he picked up his pace, glancing haphazardly between the tents. Lest someone were to jump out and stab him or worse. It was part of the reason why he had decided to find Valentin once he realized he had no clue where the other had gone. It had become almost habit, with Yefim being gone, to follow after the other. Despite not truly caring that deeply. So when Mikael, strung out and tired, had stumbled across the mess. He did not know how to feel, his eyes flicked back and forth between Valentin and Romeo. The two characters that stood out the most sharply in his wild gaze of anxiety-driven tiredness. Valentin was screaming the red-haired's name with such ferocity that it brought him pause. He was red, covered in blood, and something unknown. Valentin was like fresh blood hitting the whitest snow.

He looked distressed, and Romeo looked the complete opposite. Romeo's eyes crazed, a rabid look hunkering down in the depths of his eyes. Inconsolible. Dangerous. Mikael could remember the first time he had seen an animal with rabies. Among the reeds on his stomach, watching the deer walk up to him. Trotting slowly from side to side. A small sway as if it had no care in the world. Salivae dripped from its maw as it walked toward him. His Father had told him a sick deer was a dead deer. Something unfixable, something to deal with no sympathy. You had to put it down before it tried to take you down with it. Who wanted to live more? Mikael would pull out his wand from his and point it at Romeo. His face would be set into a deep frown as he stared down the taller boy. He had always had a bad feeling about Romeo despite the fact the white-haired boy had seemed excessively attached to him. It was merely his time. Nothing personal. He just needed to put the other down. To protect him and Valentin. " Petrificus Totalus!"

Action: Attacking Romeo with Petrificus Totalus

| Stamina 13 | Evasion 12 | Strength 14 | Wisdom 8 | Arcane Power 9 | Accuracy 11 |

- Lovely Creature - Terrible Presence - Perfectionist - Fearless - Statistically Relevant - Attacker Awarness -

Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood, @Piérre Marchonné

N.B. Action order is respected in this mod post even though narration takes place in the order that suited writing the story. However, if there is ever any question which actions took place before others, please refer to the action order sequence at the bottom. If you find inconsistencies or errors please let me know.

Romeo’s slug continued jutting from his throat, wiggling its eyestalks in what could only be assumed to be a frustrated manner. After evading its earlier lunge, Astrid continued to be held in Romeo’s grappling gridlock and wasn’t in much of a position to better defend herself. Inside the beater’s bewildering experience itself, however, the team co-captain continued trying to regain some grip on reality despite the torrent of surreal images now flashing through his mind in emotional pantomimes. A drum beat of war spurred him to violence, to conquest, to taking what should rightfully be his. In the thrall of the mind-controlling slug and failing to eject it from its biting anchor in the pit of his belly, Romeo’s senses filled with illusions of nightmarish proportions. Flames licked at his heels, spurring him to dance his finest dance, as the cackling of demonic voices scratched like nails across the chalkboard of his mind. He could almost feel the claws of the devil tracing down his spine like beads of sweat made of raw lava. A flash of white and a familiar scream of his name would turn his head, and adrenaline flooded his body in the understanding that it had to perform at its finest now. He knew the voice calling to him. He knew what the other wanted, and yet, the great blockage within him was not coming out in his attempts to vomit it out.

While holding Astrid captive in a firm press against his broad side with one arm, Romeo’s main hand reached for the bizarre black mass wriggling out of his face. Wanting to pull it manually out of himself with his bare hand, Romeo attempted to grasp the slug and pull. [1d20:8+22-1=29] However, despite the incredible brawn and accuracy of the highly trained beater, the slug simply proved too slippery. Such ooze was indeed quite the fine evolved response and proved effective as a means of self defense. As for its other properties… these would require further study, possibly in a more controlled environment. After considerable struggle, Romeo thought he had finally gained purchase at one fat bend in the slug’s flopping flesh skirt, but his grip slid after only a fleeting moment of hope. [1d20:17+15=32]

Laying on the ground near Romeo’s feet where his father’s Oakshaft 79 had been dropped into the snow, Valentin could feel his co-captain’s suffering as viscerally as if it were his own. In fact, something did twitch in the seeker’s belly as an unwanted surge of jealousy twisted through him. Still, suppressing his own pain, Valentin wanted to reach through the fog of war he knew to be holding Romeo captive to its blinding haze.

“Romeo!!” cried Valentin from his wriggling chrysalis. In the slurry of ice chunks and a growing puddle of mud, Valentin’s white silk bindings grew stained in glops of coffee color but remained a prison of his own making despite efforts to free himself. [1d20:8+3] It would not be the first time the niffler had constrained himself within limits from a subconscious wish to keep himself from harming others, but never had Valya so resembled a squirming insect before. After all, his face was streaked with metallic black slug ooze and his own wrapping was so properly wrought that they continued to suffocate the life out of him [-60 HP => 685/800 ]. Sweet, sweet air was like life itself to sky boy Valya, but even this he would no longer allow himself for long. In fact, it was not only the actions of Valentin himself that would prove suffocating.

A twinge of greed and envious longing wracked like otherwordly hunger in the white seeker’s gut, and he twisted in stomach pain on the ground with sounds of inner struggle escaping his open lips. The seeker’s eyes widened as he felt control slipping away from him, and although he turned his head to try to maintain his gaze on Romeo, his bright purple irises rolled upwards a bit too far until they disappeared behind his eyelids. Only a moment later, a jealous slug squirmed out through the boy’s mouth once more, wriggling its feelers about as it tried to lock onto the girl the other slug was so pitifully failing to overtake. No, no, it was up to Slugentin to bring Astrid over to their side, as was surely more suitable for the second seeker. The immobilized girl herself was in no position to resist, vulnerable to the combination of her two captains' well-honed instincts for coordinated strikes. Yet, the thinner boy simply didn't have a massive enough body to keep his airway from being crushed by the fat slug's emergence. Well, it wouldn't matter that the pale boy was again no longer breathing, not for long anyway. He hadn't been eager enough at kissing passersby and wasn't turning out to be as suitable a host as the obsessive romantic seemed before.

The dark mass from within Valentin emerged and lashed out at Astrid, hoping to grasp her leg and pull her down closer to the immobilized seeker’s level on the ground. Yet, while the wet blob did flop around grasping the girl’s calf, she was still held fast against the wall of muscle that was Romeo and would not be budging. For all of Slugentin’s efforts to pull Astrid down, all it accomplished was making a gross tar-like mess on her leg. After all, Romeo’s slug was neither done nor about to relinquish her.

Romeo and Val were not the only ones suffering, however, as the sick bear’s actions in particular were deemed injurious and unwanted by everyone around him. Rushing to Astrid’s aid came young Icarus, flying up fearlessly to the sun itself as if nothing could harm him. Hans came into range of Romeo just as his slug decided it needed to release some of its pent up aggravations. Thrashing out in a wide wipe while Romeo’s off hand kept Astrid bound close to him [1d20:5+15-1=19], a wall of 3 and ½ foot of voidling blob struck low in a sweep of the boy’s ankles, knocking him off his feet as he tripped over himself in a most embarrassing way [1d20:1+10=11 CRITICAL FAILURE]. It was probably a cosmic joke, really, as if the gods longed to see Icarus eat his own salty commentaries. [Hans’s HP: 800-330=470 HP] Hitting his head hard on the ground, it would take a moment for Hans to regain his bearings, but eventually he would realize that – adding insult to distressingly severe injury – the seam of his pants had split down the back, exposing the color of any undergarments below to the world. [Nat 1 flavor because no action taken and can’t receive disadvantage.] It would not be unusual for him to want to flee the scene after this, of course…

As both of the team captains were currently altogether indisposed, Felix began issuing instructions in their stead.

"All of you, listen. I'm getting this thing out of his throat and as soon as I do I need you all to start blasting it and grab Astrid. Got it? Good. ANAPNEO!"

Perhaps Felix’s earlier spell had missed due to nerves despite its incredible arcane energy, but this time he’d gotten a better hold of himself… right?? With a successful cast [1d20:11+9=20] and a relatively steady hand [1d20:6+9-1=14], the duellist could have managed to hit an unmoving target dummy. However, Romeo’s awe-inspiring maneuvers would now form a streak. [1d20:20+10=30 CRIT SUCCESS: evades] If only his first-string seeker had been conscious enough to admire the graceful form of Romeo’s martial arts. He would have to be jealous later when hearing about how Romeo now twirled Astrid around like a flamenco dance partner and put her directly in the path of Felix’s spell. The girl would then feel the need to cough a few times, but because nothing of significance was blocking her airway, she would simply feel like any latent phlegm was pleasantly cleared from her windpipe. She could now sing with marvelous tone, if she so chose.

Although coordinating with fellow patch-fan Felix, Johannes was still not one to take orders blindly.

"Shit, grab Astrid before releasing the hell beast!?" Well, certainly Felix’s plan was currently struggling to come together for more reasons than one. Hanya’s spell could have coordinated beautifully with wombo combo magic with a proper spell, but instead he would have to contribute only as much as he could by himself. "Relashio!"

Unlike the duellist, Hannes had in fact trained in earnest at his captains’ S-M bootcamp, and it showed. [1d20:13+18-1=30] Had the hellhound been studying Romeo’s vulnerabilities the whole time, or was the perpetual feeling of gagging finally taking its toll on the beefcake Italian? Whatever the reason, Romeo succumbed easily to Johannes’s revulsion jinx [1d20:1+10=11] and staggered backwards, topheavy, and fell onto his back prone. Astrid was now free of Romeo.

The other girl of the group, Greta, was not one to succumb to a victim mentality. She was from Durmstrang, after all, and had quite a special shiny wand at hand. Her Thunderbird and Larch stick was the high quality result of family professionalism, and in the arms of her dashing savior, now was the time for the little valkyrie to show that she too had great power to contribute in battle. Executing a splitting Petrificus totalus spell [WDC 14] without too much added effort [1d20:16+12=28], Greta’s spell spread could have still proved impressive despite how easy she made it look. Calling upon the sublime accuracy that served her well in both spheres of duelling and quidditch, the Norwegian’s spell struck true [1d20:10+20-1=29] despite her co-captain’s respectable attempts to dodge [1d20:14+10=24] [-50 HP]. The wiggly captive niffler was in less of a position to move out of the way and was easily struck with the other half of her spell [685-50 HP = 635 HP]. If Romeo and Val couldn’t find success together, at least the splitting spell shot at them would.

Greta was not the only one hoping to freeze the Italian beater in place, however, as Mikael entered and attempted the bodybind curse as well a few moments before her. The crazed look in Romeo’s eyes was nothing more than a diseased condition to the stormcloud blue eyed boy as he leveled his wand at the apparently rabid bear. All the previous interactions feeding into Mik’s ill feelings about Romeo culminated now in this lashing out to put him down. Yet, a memory resurged at just the wrong moment, blindsiding Mikael’s concentration during his spellcast as he instead felt the onset of an overwhelming vision of the boy he’d seen at the train station when accompanied by Val. [1d20:2+11=13-1=12] Meanwhile, the panicked circus bear wheeled away from the poorly aimed spell under the power of instinct and raw muscle memory [1d20:6+10=16]. Mouth dripping with black ooze and a long appendage writhing out of his face with a mercurial sheen rippling all across its flesh, Romeo could have terrified most small children. However, it was not the slug-plagued co-captain who would immerse surrounding people with the cold sense of dread that was the hallmark of lovely Mikael’s terrible presence. The unnerving chill would sink into Romeo’s heart and he would know that Mikael’s eyes had become those of a hunter.

Most of the people Valentin and Romeo surrounded themselves with had a fearless disposition. Even young Hans was not so easily put off by frightful auras, but that didn’t mean he thought it was a good idea to stick around, especially after taking so much damage. After contributing his share of Durmstrang’s essential sassy banter, the valiant brunette came up to the newly freed Astrid and offered the maiden an exit. The only problem was... now there was another slug wrapped around her leg. If the two worked together, perhaps they could free her once more and make an escape together. Perhaps.

Slug states by end of round:
Romeo's slug is still jutting out at a length of 3.5 ft and kicking ass
Valentin's slug is coiled around Astrid's leg and failing to bring her to the ground

Basic Stats: HP: 635 /800
STA 8 - EVA 20 - STR 3 - WIS 20 [24] - ARC 1 - ACC 17
Keen Eye / Charmer / Evasive Maneuvers / Fearless / Comprehend Languages: Parseltongue & Veela
Inventory: A golden locket, a silver earring from the Horntail Horde piercing excursion, a golden ring from Yefim, "some wand," a copy of Romeo’s medical notebook, Oakshaft 79.
Broom bonus stats (when flying): +4 ACC, +4 ARC
Charmer “opponents”: literally everyone

Action order:

Russian‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Swedish‏ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ Norwegian‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ English

A jet of white split the moment Greta had finished her incantation, each point darting for separate targets. Each of them struck squarely, and thank Freya that they had. The scene had been very quickly deteriorating with slugs appearing from two sources, each insistent on lashing out and apparently trying to cause harm to the rest of them. Even when relief should have arrived with Valentin's return to consciousness, the way he seemed completely unaware of what was going on only tinted the scene with a grim uncertainty and altered frame of understanding. Fortune had smiled down upon the Horntails that had been taken unawares, however, as his attempt to bind backfired, seeing him wrapped by his own cables. That had made him an easy target for Greta, and quickly enough his futile efforts to free himself of his own bindings would be stilled as his body went board-stiff.

Of course, somehow even that didn't stop that... thing from exacting its attempts to do whatever it was trying to do as the massive pulsating black ooze emerged once more from a once-again-unconscious Captain to wrap itself around Astrid. Greta could feel herself paling, the world going just a little bit more fantastical as sparkles appeared around the periphery of her vision. Her hand clasped all the tighter to Felix's jacket as she leaned into him for support, shuddering faintly with the horrific sight.

Meanwhile, luck had also been with her in the timing of her Body Binding Curse taking hold of their co-captain. "That really couldn't have gone much better..." she had breathed in relief as Joho's Relashio had caused their usually-friendly giant to relinquish his hold on Astrid, stagger and fall onto his back, wherein Greta's spell had taken effect to keep him from rising. In the blink of an eye, the tables had turned and the Horde had regained some battlefield control. It afforded the Valkyrie a moment of respite to really take in and process what was happening, mind feverishly working to try to frame the entire situation as a sort of quidditch game.

Objective #1: take out the greatest opposing threats.

"He won't stay down for long!" Great squeaked, pointing her wand towards Roo. The Durmstrang students' combined efforts had managed to neutralize both sluggy hosts, but it was temporary, she knew. Romeo's strength was a force unto itself and she doubted her spell, despite how powerful a caster she could be at times, would hold for long. With his strength and general size, he posed the greatest concern. He had to be taken out of the equation. "I'll... I'll handle him! You guys help Niffy!" At her safe distance, Greta likely wouldn't be able to see the effect that the protruding hag slug was having on his airway even if she were to pull her eyes off Romeo. Nevertheless, instinct and beneficence demanded that they save their beloved Captain from the devilish parasite that inhabited his body. "We have to get that thing out of him!"

She would have to leave that to the others, though. Right now, her greatest concern was preventing Rome from being a problem when he inevitably broke out of his magical binding. And she had just the thing that would keep him contained for the duration of the spell. Regardless of how much effort he expended trying to break through the barrier, his ox-like strength would prove no more effective than a wet noodle against the Bubble Jinx.

"Ebublio!"

𝙾𝚄𝚃𝙵𝙸𝚃: Reducio

│ │ │

▪ 𝙴𝙽𝙲𝚈 ▪ ▪ FELIX ▪ KOLBECK ▪ ▪ DURMSTRANG iNPC ▪ SIXTH YEAR ▪

│ │ │

𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂: Reducio @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood as Valentin @Piérre Marchonné as Romeo @Evelynn Decipio as Greta

One of Felix's palms rubbed circles around the Norwegian's back in an attempt to calm her, the tip of his fingers lightly brushing through stray tresses. He was used to the sharp nip of winter, his fingers often chilled icicles, but Greta's warmth was a welcoming contrast, like the summer's sun after a long winter. It was a warmth that needed to be protected. The pounding of her heart against his body worried him, he had remembered something about people going into shock and needing to be warm, so she was quickly wrapped inside of his jacket, its lining a hopeful cocoon of warmth, and pulled tightly against him with a protective urgency, perhaps because the scene had scared Felix too. His ice blue eyes were now staring at Valya with concern.

The Swede could only give his wand a look of betrayal when his spell missed, worse than that, it seemed whatever cosmic being was out there might have held a grudge, because not only did his spell miss, but it ended up hitting Astrid. What? WHAT?! This was such bullshit. He was a better spell caster than this, why the fuck was Romeo on some sort of gymnastics team all of the sudden?! His frustration building to a boiling point, he was ready to scream like a damn tea kettle.

"Greta, do not get close to those things, the fucking creeps seem interested in girls." Considering they were now relentless attacking Astrid. Look, he was a man and he could understand feeling like a monster sometimes when chicks were around, but that wasn't any damn excuse. These things had to die, and get out of his friends' bodies, whatever the hell they were.

Despite his lack of a jacket, beads of sweat formed on his brow and slid down to sting his eyes. His casting hand was a bit unsteady as he pointed it towards Valentin once more. His world swayed, and he felt bile creep up his throat simply from watching the scene unfold before him.

"GET. OUT. OF. MY. FRIEND." Felix growled. The unease of his stomach gave him inspiration, a new idea sparking inside his head. Merlin, he hoped he didn't fucking miss this time. "Slugulus Eructo!"

Action: Casting Slugulus Eructo at Valentin.

norwegian ❅ russian ❅ english ❅ swedish

july 17 quidditch stadium outfit - earrings health : 1100/1100 (for now)

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Piérre Marchonné @Evelynn Decipio @Astrea Soleil Neptune @Percival Rainwood @Winnie Harper @Archer Duncan

i'm just being dramatic - in fact, i'm only at it again

❅ ❅ ❅

It was true, Astrid did stop moving. She did stop trying to get out of Romeo's grip. It's not that she had accepted her fate, it's just that she knew that the boy was like, ten times stronger than her. She was standing - well, not standing but you get it - very still, focused on the slug in the boy's mouth, eyes quickly looking here and there around her. She could see Felix comforting Greta, good. She couldn't really see Johannes and Hans, but she guessed that the older one looked more exhausted than before, and the younger one could look offended by Johannes and Felix's screaming at him. If she turned her head just a little, she could see Val, still on the ground, looking like he just woke up from a weird dream - was the whole afternoon just a bad dream? - and he was looking right at her, well, Romeo and her. She could have laughed, right here, right now, if she wasn't in this situation right now. She knew that there was something between the two captains. She literally was Piérre's translator for an owl exchange last year. The way Valentin looked at Romeo and Astrid... It looked like jealousy. And this was just hilarious to her because even if the beater was trying to kiss her, it was very clear that she did not want this to happen. And then, the slug made it's way back out of the seeker's throat, reaching for Astrid's leg. "UGH! GET OFF!" The girl now had a slug threatening to fall on her face, and another climbing on her leg, trying to bring her down and staining her red skirt. It was one of her favourite skirts. She will be confronting Valentin for this, even if it wasn't entirely his fault. As the cold and gooey thing climbed her leg, she shivered of disgust and moved her leg a little, trying to make it fall. Felix had a plan, a cool plan. Thanks Felix. "ANAPNEO!" Before she could understand what has happening, Romeo danced her in the way of the spell. *cough* "HEY!" *cough* "FUCK YOU!" *cough* She started moving again, wiggling arms and legs, trying to free herself, unsuccessfully. Oh she was definitly not going to forgive him that easily. "Shit, grab Astrid before releasing the hell beast!?" Thanks for thinking Johannes. "Relashio!" And with that, Astrid was free of one threat. She was standing there, eyes wide with fear and relief. But that thing was still glued to her leg. She could see black stains on her skirt. Valentin was going to pay for that skirt. Next thing she knew, Hans was carrying her a few steps back. The slug stayed grappled to her leg. She scrunched up her nose at the sight of it. Like, her skirt! "You okay? Are... do... do you need anything?" Yeah, Astrid was okay. She just needed that thing far away from her. "I'm fine, thanks. If you could just help me remove this thing, please." Maybe a revulsion jinx would work? It it worked the slug would stop holding onto her, right? She grabbed her wand from her pocket and pointed it on the black mass. "Relashio!" "Should I just get her as far away as possible from here? Back to the tents?" The girl gave him a bewildered look. "First we get rid of that thing on my leg and from their throats, then I go scream at Val for my skirt, Romeo for the "anapneo", and the two for the whole thing, and then we can go back to the tent."

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Inventory wand, sketchbook, aquarelle kit
Action casting a "relashio" on slugentin
sta ● 11 | eva ● 9 | str ● 6 | wis ● 10 | arc ● 7 | acc ● 9
fearless - obnoxiously strong - keen eye - charmer
Post 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

⋅ Inspiration ⋅ Outfit ⋅

Mikael felt no enjoyment from his spell successfully casting. His Father had told him often to not get ahead of himself, to not let his guard down. Even now as he watched the light from his spell scrawl out from the tip of his wooden wand he felt nothing. Not until he watched the great beast twist and snap away from the jet of light. Reaching past his ear, so close, and yet he had failed. Mikael gritted his teeth his eyes narrowed as he crouched slightly over. Hunched over as he glared up at the beast through his dark eyelashes.

He had missed the shot. His Father's scorn clung to the air and stained his mouth sour. Would it all be for naught? Mikael reared back his wand pointing it at the tall boy in front of him. Towering over him as if he were nothing more than an ant. Something insignificant. Something that could easily be swatted away. His fingers clenched around the wood as his brows furrowed upward. Out here it was dog eat dog. The snow laden landscape was a hellish one. Rough and unyielding. What was he to do but survive?

To protect those he cares about, he needed to fight off this predator. Mikael reared his wand back glaring at the boy before belting out a spell. His anger and sheer determination clear across his face as he casted, "Incendio Duo!"

Action: Attacking Romeo with Incendio Duo

| Stamina 13 | Evasion 12 | Strength 14 | Wisdom 8 | Arcane Power 9 | Accuracy 11 |

- Lovely Creature - Terrible Presence - Perfectionist - Fearless - Statistically Relevant - Attacker Awarness -

Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood, @Piérre Marchonné

threading as Johannes Sauer
speaking in russian unless specified

A summary of Romeo's current state: 7 feet tall, very occupied and quite literally choking on his own terrible (horrible, no good, very bad) snake-slug. How the fuck, then, did he have the incredible agility to spin forward and use Astrid as an impromptu shield? It seemed that scepticism towards Felix's confident plan was well-earned, for their poor #7 would soak up the magical Heimlich manoeuvre like a sponge to water. One would think their former duellist would anticipate a body block quicker... Quite fortunately angled, Johannes' own revulsion jinx would strike true amidst the chaos, clipping the beater's arm just enough for the other to abruptly release his would-be victim. Their not-so-gentle giant had been practically looming over Astrid, yet now fell back prone before being further bound by a cleanly split petrificus.

With the hosts restrained and both slugs finally revealed, the strange weight of near-foreign dread seemed to possess the sweetened air. The aimless scatter of bitten paranoia set every nerve alight— a sharp flare that steadied into perpetual unease. If any of Johannes' friends and allies noticed, they didn't seem to show it. Was this another one of the slugs' tricks? Or had he finally gone mad from sleep deprivation and the insanity of it all? Rising to his feet, he wiped uselessly at the snow in some attempt to rid himself of the lingering chill. There was something raw and terribly wrong here, amplifying Durmstrang's current alienation from the rest of the wizarding community. Shit, what the hell was Halite Jr thinking…? Trying to excuse himself from the slug-ridden dinner table while elbow-deep in danger was like taking a nighttime stroll in Gotham. It was better to face the devil they knew than the ones they didn't. Who knew if the other international schools were infected? Had they unknowingly walked into the start of a wizarding zombie apocalypse movie? Was Felix’s paranoia fucking contagious??

It was an understatement and a half to say that Durmstrang was vastly out of their depth. Johannes had lived through the dignity-defying brutality of Quidditch BootCamp. He'd weathered the screaming, the schedules and the sour taste of forced proximity. He already knew how intense their captains could be when they wanted to. Hell, he'd once seen Romeo, completely sober and fortified only by his own sheer strength, literally decapitate someone with a flying kick. Yet it was easier to believe that all that destructive potential was on their side— sweeter to think that Johannes would never do anything terrible enough to be genuinely traitorous. The thorns of power incarnate had been dulled with familiarity despite knowing how quickly the beater could ricochet from man to myth to begrudging mama bear. Yet now, limb-locked and practically frothing at the mouth, whatever sliver of self Romeo had left was twisted into feral desperation. They had little more than a cornered beast on their hands, barely recognizable in this predator rage and ever more dangerous because of it. Even Mikael's extra magical insurance couldn't cut through the haze. Valentin, too, had always seemed too bright to lie tainted. The dirtied snow was no place for an angel to choke and rage even as they attempted to save him from complete possession. These eldritch abominations were corrupting the very nature of their good friends, removing all inhibitions to manifest into demonic skirt-chasers.

Johannes might have been made a bishop once but he didn’t know a damn thing about exorcisms, let alone magical ones. Who needed adult divine intervention when they had enough competent casters to make up for it? If there were (god forbid) differences between their captains' afflictions, they'd cross that bridge later. Considerably later, when they were almost-safe enough to conduct interrogations rather than being in the middle of a shootout. Angling his wand squarely at Valentin's slimy parasite, the uncomfortable pull of indignant magic seemed to swell with such dogged vindictiveness that Johannes could scarcely think to possess it.

Dodge this, motherfucker. "Sequi Me!"

Action: Casting the Homing Spell on Valentin’s slug.

Mod Information

Outfit==

Reducio

Statistics: Sta: 10 | Eva: 17 | Str: 10 | Wisdom: 9 | Arc: 8 | Acc: 18
Abilities: Foulplay, Charmer, Evasive Maneuvers, Rapid Reviver, Blindvision, Wandmaker*, Lovely Creature

Charmer Allies: Slava Preobrazhensky

Wandmaker Information

Reducio

Dragon Heartstring
- Dragon Like Power: +3 to arcane power when casting spells with this wand.
- Accident Prone: 5% chance that the intended spell will rebound on the caster. Non-targeted spells such as counters, healing, and some utility spells that have no target or are self-targeting cannot rebound. This is not prevented by the Perfectionist ability.

Cedar Wood: "Spells performed against this wand owner's enemies (those who have specifically crossed them) tend to be more painful."
Romanian Longhorn: "When their owner is passionate about something, the spells that successfully go off tend to be more dramatic."

Items: Vials of Revive Potion and Confusing Concoction in inner pockets. Wand in hidden sleeve holster (right hand).